TX4runnerguy
New member
Just installed this thing last weekend. In my years of doing about a dozen or so do-it-yourself car stereo installations, I can say that, by far, this 4Runner was the biggest b!tch of them all... mostly due to having to bypass the JBL system and the fact that I had to damn near take the whole truck apart to do it. If you don't have JBL, then it should be a snap. But, it's done and all is well.
I wanted to assemble a few tips (with pics) I learned into one thread for anyone doing a double-din install in your 2003-up 4Runner. Some info I was able to find by search on this forum, some info I had to look elsewhere and/or call Crutchfield (tech support - a great benefit to have if you buy from Crutchfield... that alone is worth the extra $100 you may spend).
Thanks to MurrayTheCat for info on the brackets and mounting of this unit.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23041
With the Alpine, and I'm sure with most other HU's, if you follow the standard install, the HU will stick out pretty far past the dash and look nasty. Once you remove the stock HU, you'll retain the factory brackets for your new double-din HU. If you do a slight modification of the factory mounting brackets, you can set it back another 1/2" or so which makes it look a hundred times better. Depending on your HU will depend on which alignment "bumps" you'll need to sand down with your trusty Dremmel tool:
You can see above where I had to sand down two of the bumps, on each bracket, to make it fit into the forward most alignment holes on the Alpine.
Put the brackets where you want on the deck, put the Metra trim brackets on top of the factory ones, then screw it down with the factory bracket screws:
After that, it will look like this:
Once you have it together, wire it up and shove it into the dash. At first, don't tighten the two side mounting bolts yet... you'll want to do a test fit by putting the dash bezel back on over it first. This will give you an idea of position adjustments you'll need to make (most likely rasing the unit up a few millimeters) when bolting it down permanently to make it look right with the dash back together (thanks again, MurrayTheCat, for this tip).
Finished product:
I also installed the Sirius Satellite Radio module and the Alpine iPod direct cable.
For the Sirius, I just removed the passenger side floor door jam trim, pulled up the carpet and slid the module under the seat. There's plenty of room for it to fit. Then, ran the wiring back up the channel, behind the glovebox and up to the deck.
For the iPod cable, I ran it into the pull-out compartment storage box below the A/C controls, infront of the cupholders. I cut a hole into the back of the compartment and shoved the cable into the box. Now, I can just flip it out and pull up the cable and hook it into my iPod. (sorry, no pic right now)
I wanted to assemble a few tips (with pics) I learned into one thread for anyone doing a double-din install in your 2003-up 4Runner. Some info I was able to find by search on this forum, some info I had to look elsewhere and/or call Crutchfield (tech support - a great benefit to have if you buy from Crutchfield... that alone is worth the extra $100 you may spend).
Thanks to MurrayTheCat for info on the brackets and mounting of this unit.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23041
With the Alpine, and I'm sure with most other HU's, if you follow the standard install, the HU will stick out pretty far past the dash and look nasty. Once you remove the stock HU, you'll retain the factory brackets for your new double-din HU. If you do a slight modification of the factory mounting brackets, you can set it back another 1/2" or so which makes it look a hundred times better. Depending on your HU will depend on which alignment "bumps" you'll need to sand down with your trusty Dremmel tool:
You can see above where I had to sand down two of the bumps, on each bracket, to make it fit into the forward most alignment holes on the Alpine.
Put the brackets where you want on the deck, put the Metra trim brackets on top of the factory ones, then screw it down with the factory bracket screws:
After that, it will look like this:
Once you have it together, wire it up and shove it into the dash. At first, don't tighten the two side mounting bolts yet... you'll want to do a test fit by putting the dash bezel back on over it first. This will give you an idea of position adjustments you'll need to make (most likely rasing the unit up a few millimeters) when bolting it down permanently to make it look right with the dash back together (thanks again, MurrayTheCat, for this tip).
Finished product:
I also installed the Sirius Satellite Radio module and the Alpine iPod direct cable.
For the Sirius, I just removed the passenger side floor door jam trim, pulled up the carpet and slid the module under the seat. There's plenty of room for it to fit. Then, ran the wiring back up the channel, behind the glovebox and up to the deck.
For the iPod cable, I ran it into the pull-out compartment storage box below the A/C controls, infront of the cupholders. I cut a hole into the back of the compartment and shoved the cable into the box. Now, I can just flip it out and pull up the cable and hook it into my iPod. (sorry, no pic right now)
